Body Repair

[Faheem]

There's a chap on YouTube who I've been subscribed to for a long time. He gets cars that are practically written off and brings them back to life.

His work is very impressive and when it's all fixed and the body panels are put back on to the car to an untrained eye it looks good as new.

My question is, surely the structural strength of the chassis won't be the same once it's bent inwards? Especially in such extreme cases.

View: https://youtu.be/KOMTYdWmrOo

View: https://youtu.be/TBryZaK9Qzc


Or are those what a typical CAT C would look like here in the UK?

 

[hard top]

My question is, surely the structural strength of the chassis won't be the same once it's bent inwards? Especially in such extreme cases.

I would have thought that the chassis would have been straightened, I had that done on a car many moons ago.

 

[Faheem]

You may be right Mike but I was always thought that if it gets bent inwards - i.e. in a crash and then you bend it back out it so that it's straight it wouldn't have the same structural integrity that it did when it left the factory. I may well be wrong so I'm curious to see what others have to say.

Car in the second video looks like it belongs at the scrappers!

 

[hard top]

i.e. in a crash and then you bend it back out it so that it's straight it wouldn't have the same structural integrity that it did when it left the factory.

I asked the same question at the time but was told "no problem" but to be honest, got shot of it straight after.
Sold it to another English bloke working over here....
He totaled it after two weeks of ownership.
It was my first ever car, a Talbot Samba.............

 

[hard top]

@Faheem thought you would like to know how I bent the car.....
A mates bar closed down, so we stuck some barrels of beer in the back, steering went light and I drove straight into a brick wall.
Aah, those were the days.....

 

[Faheem]

And the brakes failed too did they?

 

[hard top]

And the brakes failed too did they?

No, I was drunk at the time.....

 

[hard top]

In my defense, was not going to drive any further than out of the bar car park as to get the barrels off the premises...

 

[Tfp]

You may be right Mike but I was always thought that if it gets bent inwards - i.e. in a crash and then you bend it back out it so that it's straight it wouldn't have the same structural integrity that it did when it left the factory. I may well be wrong so I'm curious to see what others have to say.

This is exactly my view.

Modern cars are designed to crumple in certain places to absorb the impact.

I don't believe in pulling it back out.

And if you buy a car that's previously been crashed, how do you know the airbags are going to work? Or whether the seatbelts will take the stress once again? Or if the seat frames have been weakened?

And if the front crumple zones have been pulled back out how do you know the car is exactly straight? You really wouldn't want to find out it isn't when you have to hit the brakes hard one day at 70mph.

It's my job to spot previous accident repairs on cars, been doing it for 30 years, I've seen some terrible repairs in my time, cars that really shouldn't be on the road. And they're not all on the register.

 

[hard top]

Modern cars are designed to crumple in certain places to absorb the impact.

That is true now, but years ago it was done.

 

[Tfp]

And while we're on the subject.

When a bodyshell is built it's all put together, welded, spot welded, and then dipped so it doesn't all rust.

When a car is repaired, and panels need to be replaced, and welding/spot welding is involved, you can only generally paint one side of the repair. So the other side is often a burnt mess that soon goes rusty, and weakens over time.

I'm sure some of you have read sometime "rust points to previous accident repairs" on certain models of cars, Porsches for example.

 

[Tfp]

That is true now, but years ago it was done.

Yes, cars many years ago had strong chassis rails.

My local bodyshop says they don't attempt to fix Clios anymore if they've crumpled. They say it's all so weak they can never get them back straight again.

Crumple zones are brilliant, I'll dig out a pic of a Honda Jazz that got rear ended.



Three young lads were in the back of that car, no injuries to speak of, but the fire chap said if the boot had been full of luggage it'd be a different storey.

 

[Tfp]

When a car is repaired there is no Government organisation checking them.

An MOT test is often all they have, but as Tony will confirm, an MOT tester doesn't road test a vehicle, so will have no idea if the thing doesn't drive straight down the road.

The whole thing needs a massive shake up, there are so many dangerous cars on the road. People will take a chance just to save a bit of money.

I'll calm myself down now and go to bed, but please understand, I've seen the very worse side of the motor trade, cars that have been repaired as cheaply as possible using mostly second hand parts, and fixed with only profit in mind, not peoples safety.

 

[mrscalex]

We have a Cat system in the UK. If the car is that bad it's written off as a Cat A/B and can't go back on the road.

Cat C is broadly chassis damage and Cat D panel damage. There's a revised system that came in earlier this year to make that classification firm.

Am I saying all cars are safe that have been repaired? No. Am I saying the metal is as sound as before, no. But done properly the risk is managed down and it gives you the option of having a repaired car for about 60% of previous market value. And that's a considered risk some people are happy to take. In my view if properly done it's safer than the idiot who sits behind the steering wheel in most cars and poorly mechanically maintained cars.

If you don't like the idea then obviously don't buy one and take the risk. That's a perfectly reasonable approach too.

And if that's the guy I think it is and his stuff is fascinating, he's not in the UK. Standards are different in Eastern European countries and it's a national sport. You may well be seeing cars that would be Cat A/B in this country.